Holiday Cheer
by starrysunrise
Summary: Four ficlets, written as Christmas presents for people. Pairings are RemusSirius, RonHermione, RemusSeverus, DracoGinny. Mostly fluff, some angst.
1. When You Love Somebody

When You Love Somebody

"Okay. Lights…tree…presents…eggnog… _mistletoe_," Sirius listed off, "I think we've got everything, Moony! Now we can have a proper Christmas! _AND ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS YOUUUUUUUUUUU_," he belted out, off-key.

Remus, who was lying face down on Sirius' ratty couch, mumbled a "'whatever you say, Padfoot" through the cushions.

Sirius scowled and grabbed a handful of his friend's sweater. He hoisted the other man up forcefully.

"Get up, Moony, it's Christmas!" Sirius yelled.

"Yes, and you've spent the last 3 _hours _putting up these bloody 'proper' decorations when we could have been doing something much more _productive _involving icing and candy canes…" Remus stated with annoyance.

"Fear not, my fair Moony," Sirius said dramatically, "I plan on getting you pissed from the eggnog so you'll snog me under the mistletoe!" He looked rather pleased at developing such an ingenious plot.

"That's the best idea you've had all day," Remus drawled.

"Well, I was planning on snogging Jamie, but since he's at his girlfriend's house—_**oy!**"_

Remus had shoved Sirius so hard that he had lost his balance and was now sprawled out on the orange shag carpeting in an oddly provocative pose.

"There will be no snogging of James Potter," Remus scolded as he towered over Sirius.

"Yes, master," Sirius replied solemnly, stifling a smirk.

"Why the sudden rush of Christmas spirit, anyway?" Remus asked as he helped Sirius back on his feet.

Sirius brushed himself off and replied distractedly, "I'm trying to make it special."

"But _why_?" the werewolf prodded.

"Because it's our first Christmas together, just the two of us, and I…" Sirius blushed.

"You…?" Remus helped him along.

"IwantittobeperfectbecauseIloveyousomuch," Sirius said hurriedly, shuffling his feet in embarrassment.

Remus blinked. And then laughed. Loudly.

"Might I ask what is so damn funny?" Sirius snapped, "I mean, honestly! You tell a bloke that you love him for the first time, and all he does is _laugh_!"

"Sorry." Remus stopped laughing, and looked genuinely apologetic. "I…I… love you too, you know."

"Really?" Sirius beamed.

"Without a doubt," the other man replied confidently.

Sirius narrowed his eyes. "Then how come you giggled?"

"Because…Merlin, Padfoot, you're such a girl!" Remus chuckled again. "If anybody asks, _you're_ the woman in this relationship."

"Hey, I resent that," Sirius said, highly insulted.

"You are!" Remus insisted, "All sensitive and pretty…"

"Rugged and manly," Sirius corrected. " _You're _the sensitive and pretty one. Besides, if I were a girl, would I be able to do _this_?"

Sirius pressed his lips to Remus' roughly, delighted at the immediate response from the other man.

After a few seconds, he pulled away.

"Well, yes, Sirius, I do believe a girl is also capable of doing that, I just wouldn't enjoy it nearly as much," Remus quipped.

"Oh, shut it," Sirius grumbled.

Remus rolled his eyes. "Come here, you." He kissed him again, slowly.

Upon parting, they stared into each others' eyes with blissful little smiles on their faces.

"Love you, Moony," Sirius said, toying with the tawny hair at the nape of Remus' neck.

"Love you too," Remus whispered, kissing his cheek.

"I'll get the icing."

"I'll get the candy canes."

--END--


	2. Light My Fire

Light My Fire

_This is actually rather nice_, Harry thought as he deepened the kiss tentatively. _Not at all like snogging Cho. Definitely not as wet… _

"What on _EARTH _?" Hermione screeched loudly upon entering the dormitories.

Harry and Ron broke apart abruptly, with a fairly girlish squeak emitting from each of their mouths. Mouths that were, incidentally, a bit preoccupied up until that moment.

Ron was concentrating on blushing like a nun in a whorehouse while creating as much space as possible between himself and Harry. The dark haired boy found something interesting on the floor. But there was no denying their disheveled appearances, bee-stung lips, and the all-together debauched feeling in the atmosphere.

Hermione's eyebrows furrowed and she took a deep breath.

"Were you two just…?" she wondered out loud.

"Erm--"

"Well--"

"You see…"

"Oh!" Hermione gasped. _"Oh!_"

"What?" Ron snapped.

"I knew it!"

"Knew bloody what?" Harry asked irritably.

"I knew you two had _something _going on!" Hermione stated triumphantly. "I just couldn't figure out what it was. Those looks Ron kept shooting over to Harry when I was helping him with his homework a few days ago…and the glances under lowered lashes that Harry sent Ron last night during dinner…oh! It all makes sense now!" She was practically glowing with the newly acquired knowledge as she babbled on.

"You're in love with each other!"

Ron made a noise of protest.

Hermione's eyes darted towards the redhead. "Don't worry, Ron, this doesn't change anything. I won't think badly of you. I think you two make a wonderful couple!" she said, smiling at them wistfully.

Harry's eyes bugged out in shock. "Uh…Hermione…"

"Oh, come here." The bushy haired girl yanked them together and threw her arms around each of their necks in a tight three-way embrace.

"Hermione," Ron gasped out due to lack of oxygen, "you've got it all wrong!"

"Nonsense!" she exclaimed. "You don't have to hide it from me anymore!"

"We're serious, Hermione!" Harry said hoarsely.

"Well I should hope you're serious about each other, considering the way your tongue was--"

"Gah!" Ron yelled.

"Hermione, shut it," Harry snapped. "Ron and I are not together. I'm not in love with him, I don't fancy him, I don't want to shag him, and I'm pretty sure the feeling's mutual. We appreciate your enthusiasm for us, but we're _not gay_," he explained all in one breath.

Hermione blinked.

"But…"

"It was just a bit of…" Ron's ears went red. "…practice. You know. Messing around. We were curious…and a bit randy," he added.

Harry coughed uncomfortably.

"Ron's never kissed a gi--"

"Shut up, Harry," Ron cut him off.

Hermione blinked a second time.

"But…"

"The looks at dinner were directed towards…another individual and I'm fairly certain Ron was _not _looking at _me _when I was doing homework," Harry said with a smirk.

Hermione was quiet for a moment before she burst out into helpless giggles.

Harry rolled his eyes.

"I'm sorry…" giggle "…I just always wondered what…" giggle "…boys did in private when girls weren't around and…" giggle "…now I know!"

"Hey! That was just a one time thing!" Ron said defensively.

"Yeah," Harry agreed, "Ron just wanted to know how things were done so he could--"

"Oy!"

"So he could what?" Hermione asked innocently.

"Do this!" Ron hollered angrily.

In one quick motion, he had his arms all around Hermione and was kissing her like there was no tomorrow. Apparently, his "lesson" had paid off, as Hermione was feeling a bit weak in the knees.

Harry sniggered.

"You're welcome, Ron."

--END--


	3. It Doesn't Matter

It Doesn't Matter

"Do you miss him?"

"What do you think?" Remus whispered.

Severus nodded silently. He reached out to put a hand on the werewolf's shoulder but then, as if thinking twice about it, drew back quickly.

"He wouldn't have wanted you to be like this," the dark-haired man pointed out.

"Why does everybody keep saying that?" Remus snapped, "'_Sirius wouldn't have wanted this, you know'_…how the bloody hell do they know what he would have wanted? They hardly knew him at all!!"

Severus narrowed his eyes. "I'm attempting to be comforting, Lupin. That _is_ what one does when another is grieving, is it not?"

"I don't need your sympathy," Remus said, taking a sip of tea.

Severus sighed in annoyance. The only sound after that was the scraping of a chair against the kitchen floor as the head of Slytherin sat himself down at the table and leaned toward Remus.

"Lupin," he growled throatily, his face centimeters away from the other man, "I will only say this once, so I do hope that you are listening." Remus glanced up from tea. Severus couldn't help but notice the way his once sparkling amber eyes were filled with such sorrow and weariness as he sat alone in the kitchen at midnight.

Snape took a deep breath, and his whole face contorted as if that what he was about to say would cause him physical pain somehow.

"As much as I loathed Black, he was unfairly bereft of his life. He was cruel to me in school, along with Potter and the rest of your merry little gang, yet I do not believe he deserved to die. After all, it would be rather hypocritical of me to say that no one warrants a second chance at his path in life," Snape murmured the last part.

"But, Black is dead, Lupin," he continued, "Nothing will change that. You must accept it and move on with your life."

Remus remained quiet.

"Did you love him?" Severus asked.

The werewolf shrugged. "Does it matter?"

"Yes."

Remus sighed loudly. "I didn't love Sirius as anything more than a friend, Severus. You would never believe me when I would tell you that, but it's true. I grieve the loss of a good friend, not a lover."

"I see." Snape looked more dejected than usual.

"Severus…" Remus winced.

"We could have been something great, you know," the Slytherin remarked.

"It wouldn't have worked."

"You do not know that."

"Yes, I do," Remus stated firmly.

Severus sneered. "My hatred of Black was insignificant compared to the jealousy I experienced. He had your heart, and I never would."

"Sirius never had--"

"More so than I," he retorted.

Remus met the dark gaze pensively.

"Severus, love doesn't conquer all, no matter what they say in fairytales. Sometimes, giving up everything you have to be with the person you love is not a risk worth taking." Remus stood up slowly as the other man took in the enigmatic statement.

"To answer your question, I do miss him. Very much. Not a day goes by when I don't wish things could have turned out differently. For Sirius. For Lily and James. For Harry…" He trailed off.

"…and for us. Good night, Severus."

Severus Snape watched as the only man he had ever loved walked out of the room, and out of his life. If only he had told Remus exactly what he was willing to give up to be with him, things could have been different for them.

Instead he chose the path of darkness over his former lover, and nothing would ever change that.

--END--


	4. Because I Can

Because I Can

Madam Puddifoot's was a sort of hell dimension with frills, Draco was sure of that. It was two weeks from Christmas, and the little coffee shop looked like St. Nick had vomited all over it. It was so full of holiday cheer that Draco felt the urge to vomit a bit himself.

But he was stuck there. With a date. Which would have been more enjoyable, except…

"Oh, Drakey-poo! Don't you _looooove _this place? I just loooove this place! It's so cute! Don't you think it's _adorable?!_"

Draco rolled his eyes discreetly at the bottle blonde in front of him. _She's a Slytherin, she's not a Mudblood, and she has nice tits_, he reminded himself._You can survive twenty more minutes… _

"Drakey, look!" The girl giggled shrilly, pointing towards the ceiling, lips already puckered.

Mistletoe.

Oh damn.

"I've got to go to the loo," Draco lied quickly, leaving the table before his date had time to protest. It wasn't that he didn't want to kiss his date.

Well, yes, there _was_ that. But the real reason was that mistletoe, in his opinion, was not a tradition to be participated in. He would kiss a girl when he bloody well felt like it, _not_ when a poisonous plant was encouraging it…

Draco slowly maneuvered his way through the shop, dodging endless tables of cheerful patrons and snogging couples and even more mistletoe.

"Well, well, fancy seeing you here, Malfoy," a voice commented from behind him, just as he was about to enter the bathroom.

Draco whipped around with a start, only to come face to face with a girl. A girl with orange hair, big brown eyes, and an equally large mouth…

"What do you want, Weasley?" Draco sneered.

"Oh, nothing much," Ginny replied flippantly, "just a chance to mock you. This place is a bit different from your usual digs, eh?" She smirked.

The girl was far too snarky. Draco missed the times when she would quiver in her mary janes with fear while in his presence. Unfortunately, seeing her worst enemy sprouting snot bats from his nostrils in his fifth year had taken all that fear away, and now she lived to taunt him at opportune moments such as this.

"For your information, _Weasel, _I'm here with someone," he responded.

Ginny scanned the room, quickly spotting Draco's date. The Slytherin girl was currently preening herself in front of a little compact. She reapplied lip gloss for the fourth time and puckered up for the mirror, all the while giggling incessantly.

"She looks smart," Ginny deadpanned.

Draco glared. "Shut up, Weasel. At least she's not a _Mudblood-lover_."

Ginny blinked. "Your creativity is overwhelming, Malfoy."

"What?"

"Mudblood-lover. Catchy, but it lost its touch a while ago. Well, unless you're Ron, but he always _was_ one to get angry over the sort of truth that he wasn't willing to admit yet," Ginny explained matter-of-factly, "Come on, Malfoy, I know you can do better than that! Whatever happened to 'Potter's whore'? Now that there was one of your better ones…"

It was Draco's turn to blink.

"Are you on drugs?" Draco asked in confusion.

"Not at the moment, no," Ginny replied.

"Are you stalking me, then?" he persisted. He had a point. She had been lurking a little lately.

"What, a girl isn't allowed to go to the loo anymore?" she said innocently.

Draco grunted in annoyance. Weasley was so _irritating_…

Ginny laughed. "You're too easy, Malfoy." She patted his arm.

The Slytherin glanced at his arm with disgust.

"Oh, then I suppose you'll be _really _disgusted by this…" Ginny said. She pressed her lips to his sweetly.

Draco stilled with shock.

Then Ginny was walking away, careful to put a bit of an extra sway in her hips. She tossed a look over her shoulder with a devious smirk.

"Merry Christmas, Malfoy."

Draco shot ocular daggers at her.

The girl Weasel was so irritating.

--END--


End file.
